Bob's Journal
Found 589 Articles.
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Bob’s Journal for 11/16
Estate, Gift Tax Exemption Increases, Other Tax Benefits Boosted for 2024 Inflation increased the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption for 2024 as well as other tax benefits, the IRS announced last week. The lifetime estate and gift tax exemption will be $13.610 million in 2024, up from $12.920 million in 2023. Married couples can […]
Bob’s Journal for 11/9
Know the Factors That Generated Recent Stock Market Returns Investors know they earn money when stock prices rise. But they don’t always know why prices rose and what that portends for future returns. A new analysis breaks down the sources of total shareholder returns and determines how much each source contributed to the total. You […]
Bob’s Journal for 11/2
Number of Millionaires in the United States Increases The average net worth of American families exceeded $1 million for the first time in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, conducted every three years. The 2022 level is 42% higher than the $749,000 average net worth recorded before the pandemic in 2019. […]
Bob’s Journal for 10/26
6 IRA Actions to Consider Before Dec. 31 It is time to assess key IRA actions and be sure to take the ones that are appropriate for you before the end of the year. Actions must be completed before Dec. 31 to reap their benefits. If you wait until December to act and the individual […]
Bob’s Journal for 10/19
How to Earn Top Long-Term Returns The best way to earn higher returns than most investors over the long term is to avoid investment losses. It is a good idea to read the periodic client memos from Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital. You come across classic insights such as that one accompanied by detailed explanations […]
Bob’s Journal for 10/12
Courts Are Overruling Regulators’ War Against Digital Currency Investments The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been trying to limit investor access to digital currencies in recent years, but the courts are invalidating those actions. Proposals to offer exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest directly in digital currencies, also known as cryptocurrencies, have been submitted to […]
Bob’s Journal for 10/5
The Rising Risks in Treasury Bonds Actions by the Federal Reserve often have unintended consequences. Treasury bonds have been hit and will continue to suffer from the unintended consequences of the Fed’s actions of the past few years. In the 1980s, a number of people warned about what they called the “hockey stick” built into […]
Bob’s Journal for 9/27
We Mark the 25th Anniversary of When an Investment Fund’s Failure Shook the Markets and Changed Federal Reserve Policy We recently marked the 25th anniversary of the failure of the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM). The failure of what was a little-known investment fund shook the world’s capital markets and initiated important policy changes. […]
